Immigration raids part of long-planned action - White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Moves by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deport individuals found to have entered the United States illegally are an extension of earlier such actions and will not affect people who are appealing their deportation, the White House said on Friday. "The operations that are under way are merely the continuation of operations that were announced in January and in March," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, adding that they had not being conducted in schools, hospitals or places of worship. Reuters has reported that U.S. immigration officials are planning a month-long series of raids in May and June to deport hundreds of Central American mothers and children found to have entered the country illegally. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese)